I can't even put together an office chair

February 10, 2007 6:30 PM

Any office chair experts here? I got this chair from the store yesterday and my attempts at making it fully functional are unsuccessful. It's put together but the lever to raise/lower the height of the seat doesn't work. Furthermore, I can no longer separate the bottom from the top. How do these things work?

Both the box for the chair and the sticker under the chair say that it can be raised/lower and give instructions how (lift lever). However, the lever doesn't really let pull up; it's kind of just stuck. I can tighten the lean using a knob as well as lock/unlock the lean. Why can't I raise/lower the chair? And no I'm not sitting on the chair when pulling the lever up. I tried pulling the bottom of the chair off to examine it again but it's stuck tight now.

posted by lpctstr; to Home & Garden (9 answers total)

The lever might be "locked"... See if you can free it by pulling out (not "up" or "down" but OUT away from the chair)... THEN pull up.
posted by amyms at 7:10 PM on February 10, 2007

Response by poster: amyms: Thanks for the suggestion. I just tried that and it's still stuck even when pulled out.
posted by lpctstr; at 7:11 PM on February 10, 2007

The best thing to do is return it to the store. They should have no problem exchanging it for a new chair. In my experience (I work for an office supply store) those chairs don't come apart easily.

I you play the disgruntled customer card, they may even put one together for you and try it out in the store to make sure the new one works properly.
posted by vewystwange at 7:35 PM on February 10, 2007

Almost always, the top of the chair is designed to seal permanently.
posted by aye at 8:16 PM on February 10, 2007

re: the lever, either it is a) already up all the way, b) 'locked'as amyms said, in which case pull away from the chair to unlock it (safer to do it when not sitting in chair cuz if you're leaning back the lever sometimes wont move), or c) is genuinely busted in whcih case you should take it back to the store and complain...
The mechanisms on these chairs arent all that complex so I cant imagine what else it could be. Maybe it wasnt assembled properly?
posted by jak68 at 1:12 AM on February 11, 2007

Best answer: It's probably just stiff, try sitting on the chair, pull the lever UP and then slowly start to stand up.
posted by Lanark at 2:13 AM on February 11, 2007

Best answer: This happened to us when I was trying to put together my office chair. It was incredibly difficult, but we got the bottom part off again. The little cone type things that go around the base and collapse into each other? They were upside down. Don't ask me how that makes a difference, but we turned them the right way, put the bottom back on again, and wala. Uppy down goodness.
posted by Ugh at 8:05 AM on February 11, 2007

Response by poster: Ugh: I'm pretty sure that's the problem! I figured, silly plastic cones, and just put them on approximately. So now, are there any tips to taking off the bottom? I've unscrewed the metal hourglass from the seat but still can't pull them apart. I'm getting quite a workout.
posted by lpctstr; at 12:18 PM on February 11, 2007

Response by poster: This story has a happy ending. I brought it to Office Max they tried it and it immediately worked. Oh well. Thanks for the responses!
posted by lpctstr; at 2:25 PM on February 11, 2007